tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3277310055963332196.post-89853474459323452132018-02-11T09:57:00.000-07:002018-02-11T09:57:28.111-07:00Speculation: Justin Faulk to Detroit Red Wings <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oTAmmVAj_jY/WoBs9wyoi_I/AAAAAAAAAVg/xmPfxBVn8GMwRKS5SeibGbIwOap5tywOACLcBGAs/s1600/cut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oTAmmVAj_jY/WoBs9wyoi_I/AAAAAAAAAVg/xmPfxBVn8GMwRKS5SeibGbIwOap5tywOACLcBGAs/s400/cut.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>In a recent installment of Elliotte Friedman's "31 Thoughts", he speculates an interesting trade between the Carolina Hurricanes and Detroit Red Wings<br /><a name='more'></a>He mentions a trade centering around co-captain Justin Faulk and Andreas Athanasiou.<br /><br />The Hurricanes have an excellent, young defensive core with the likes of Brett Pesce, Jacob Slavin, Haydn Fleury and Noah Hanifin. Faulk, at 25 years of age is by no means an old player, but with those younger players improving as the season wears on, &nbsp;he looks like the odd man out. That said he can still add a lot to almost any team's defensive core, and a team like Detroit could especially use his services.<br /><br />Athanasiou on the other hand, is a solid offensive player. He's not Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby, with a career-high 18 goals and 29 points last season, but he could likely grow into a solid 2nd-3rd centre. Another reason this trade makes sense would be the contract negotiations between him and Detroit, which were dragged out to the point of Athanasiou possibly heading to Russia, could leave some hard feelings between the two and maybe parting ways is in the best interest for both parties.<br /><br />What do you think of this trade? Comment below.Dave Andrewshttps://plus.google.com/110818420291780173938noreply@blogger.com